Product Description

The players are inventors at the Edison Company where they work in teams of two to influence the outcome
of driving tests for new vehicles. Players try to get their favorite vehicles to the high scoring spaces
on the track at scoring time--so it's not a race, but more a question of timing since players must
evaluate where they should be at a specific point in the game. With a unique movement system, each player
controls only a portion of the movement on each turn--one player decides the length of the move, and
another the direction. The team that works best together will score the highest and win the game!

Product Reviews

Edison & Co. is not a race game, and people who expect one will be very disappointed. Exactly what it is is hard to say, but it is a quick playing and fun 'filler' game.

Players have an interest in four cars, ranging from a multiplier of zero to three, with each player or team having a different set of multipliers. An interactive sequence of card play is used to determine the direction, speed and choice of car to be moved, with the first three players each picking one of these parameters. The last player has the final choice of car, and actually executes the movement. Cars score whenever a two speed card is played, whenever a car land on an oil slick, and at the end of the game. Each space has a score value, with oil slicks being zero and reversing a car's direction. At the end of the ame, players mutliply the score of each car by that car's multiplier and total the scores.

There are lots of options, including being able to vary the points for the spaces, determining your own multiplier for each car, play as teams or individuals, and rules for two and three player games. There is some confusion as the game comes with two ruleboooks; apparently, the correct one is the one with the white border.

We have only played this as a two-player game, and our reaction to it went through four distinct phases:

We were impressed by the quality of components and artwork.

We were confused by the rules (2 differing sets of rules were included in the box.) It took some time to agree on which rules we would use.

We were disappointed in the way the game played out. We only made it about 1/4 of the way around the board and only scored once before the end of the round. Because we knew who was scoring which car, the decision-making easy, and the game seemed pointless. However, we agreed that there was great potential for this game to be enjoyable, so we decided to try again with some rule mods.

We each used two sets of cards and played with the 'favorites' card hidden, so that we didn't know who was scoring each car. The game played out a lot more enjoyably that way, and we were happy to have purchased this game.

We have a lot of games to choose from, but this one will not gather dust. I agree with other reviewers that people should enjoy card games like Bridge, Crib, and Euchre if they are going to buy this game.

Edison & Co. is most often mentioned when someone lists a game as 'widely disliked', or at best - 'opinions differ widely on this game'. Some have conjectured that the difference is mainly between American audiences (who dislike) and European audiences (who like). I've found it is a different case. I enjoy the game but like it when players do not reveal hands. This is especially true for a fun 2-player game. I've noticed that those that like it have at one time or other played a lot of cards, especially Cribbage. Those who played a lot of cribbage know pegging makes the difference in the long run. Edison & Co is like pegging in cribbage in Wonderland. No telling where the little peg, or in this case vehicle, will go. Anyway, this game is a blast, but perhaps you need some card experience, other than only Magic, under your belt.